Today we have an interview with Nicole Pizzini, another conservation assistant.

Catherine Wood: How did you become interested in art conservation?

Nicole Pizzini: I was a chemistry major who took an art history class… and that was a fatal blow to my chemistry major. I just fell in love with art history and knew I had to be doing art. But I still wanted that chemistry side.

Actually, it was looking through job postings here at the Saint Louis Art Museum that led me to discover the field of conservation. I was searching for a way that I could integrate art history into my schooling, and I saw they were looking for a paper conservator. When I researched conservation, I realized it perfectly matched what I wanted out of my career and my life. Art and science? Sign me up.

CW: This is your second year working on The Panorama of the Monumental Grandeur of the Mississippi Valley, right?

NP: Yes, I started last summer. When I heard about the project I was really excited because it’s in my hometown. I grew up in this museum. I wanted to be able to do what I love here and show my hometowners what I do and how great it is.
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